The following contains spoilers for Freakier FridayFreakier Friday builds on a lot of the same themes as 2003’s Freaky Friday, expanding them to fit a larger cast and a new generation of characters. Reuniting Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and much of the supporting cast from Freaky Friday, Freakier Friday focuses largely on Lohan’s Anna and her daughter, Harper. With Anna set to be married to Eric in less than a week, Anna is horrified when another body swap takes place involving her and her daughter — as well as a swap between her mother Tess and her soon-to-be step-daughter, Lily.
Lily and Harper spend much of the film serving as the antagonists, trying to use the situation to their advantage so they can try and split up Anna and Eric. This leads to a comical web of lies and slapstick turns that keep the momentum going until the characters go through their big emotional arcs. It’s a fitting sequel to the 2003 Freaky Friday, all while finding clever and natural ways to reincorporate many of the supporting characters from the last movie. Here’s how Freakier Friday‘s body swaps work and how they’re resolved.
How Lily, Harper, Anna & Tess Switch Bodies Back
However, they both feel horrible in the aftermath after realizing just how in love their parents are, and quickly work to reconcile the relationship. These bursts of empathy between Lily and Tess and then with Harper and Anna turn out to be the key to restoring them to their original bodies.
After all four find new understanding, earthquake only they can feel hits, returning them all to their original bodies with no one the wiser to what they’ve done or what has happened. This sets up the film to end on a positive note, with Harper and Lily embracing each other as sisters while both girls have a тιԍнтer bond with their parents.
Why Lily & Harper Don’t Want Anna & Eric To Get Married
Lily and Harper initially hate each other in Freakier Friday, setting up why they want Anna and Eric to split. Lily and Harper are introduced as immediate rivals at school, frustrated at being labeled partners because of their contrasting personalities. This only becomes more pronounced once Eric and Anna begin dating, leading to a lot of the film’s interpersonal tension.
Lily and Harper don’t want the marriage to go through because it would force them to be family — and Harper is given extra motivation when she discovers the plan is to move the family to London for Eric’s work. However, over the course of the film, Anna’s resolve on this matter is weakened by the discovery of how much Eric loves Anna.
This is only further complicated when she discovers Eric’s plan to stay in LA, which gives her extra reasons to let the marriage go by. It is Lily’s discovery of this turn that prompts a freakout, initially splitting Eric and Anna for a time. However, Lily realizes the damage she’s done and helps reunite the pair.
What Happens To Freaky Friday’s Other Returning Characters
Freakier Friday has lots of returning supporting characters, hinting at how the world has changed (or hasn’t) for most of the cast. Ryan is still happily married to Tess, with a patience and calm that helps reᴀssure Tess late in the film. He’s also become a local pickleball champion with Tess, setting up one of the film’s sillier beats for Lily after the body swap.
Maddie and Peg are still best friends with Anna, even after Pink Slip broke up, attending her Bachelorette party and later joining her on stage when the band returns to the stage. Pei-Pei and her mother also appear at the party, still on friendly terms with Tess. Anna’s brother Harry and the antagonistic teacher Elton Bates also reappear.
The biggest returning character is Jake, Anna’s love interest in the first film. Jake is revealed to operate a successful record shop in Los Angeles, and remains on friendly terms with Anna. Despite Harper’s best attempts to reignite that romance, Jake shows a great amount of self-awareness and genuine care for Anna.
This suggests that Anna and Jake may have gone through an off-screen split but were able to keep their friendship going. The film also plays with Jake’s enduring attraction to Tess and older women. He tries to flirt with Tess at one point, and later brings an older woman to Anna’s wedding as his +1.
How Freakier Friday Brings Back Pink Slip For A New Song
Pink Slip was Anna’s band in high school, serving as one of her primary motivations in contrast to her mother’s wedding planning. In the years since the events of the first film, Pink Slip became a global phenomenon and performed for a while before Anna left the band.
It seems that Anna left the band because she was pregnant with Harper, which Harper comes to mistakenly believe Anna resents her over. Anna found success as a manager in the music industry after giving up performing, working closely with pop stars like Ella.
When Ella asks if she can perform one of Anna’s secret songs at her upcoming show, she uses it as a chance to bring Anna back onto the stage for an impromptu Pink Slip performance. This plays a heavy role in the climax of the film, with Anna and Harper finally connecting during their time on stage.
The Real Meaning Of Freakier Friday
Image via Disney Studios
Much like the first film, Freakier Friday is focused on the importance of family and having empathy for one another. Freakier Friday expands the concept to fully explore a modern mixed family, building on Tess’s arc with Ryan in the first film by introducing Eric and Lily. Eric and Anna are shown hurting from their personal losses, but they genuinely found happiness together.
The only way for the family to be restored to their natural bodies is if they can manage to bring their hearts back to where they belong. For Harper, that forces her to reckon with her mother’s personal wants and desires, while also coming to recognize just how much her mother loves her.
For Lily, that requires her to see past her own pain and recognize the grief her father still feels. This, coupled with Tess’ help, prompts her to embrace her new family in an emotional beat. It all gives Freakier Friday a very sweet core that fits the story well.
